Thursday, January 11, 2018

The Body in the Casket - Review

Review

THE BODY IN THE CASKET by Katherine Hall Page

The Twenty-Fourth Faith Fairchild Mystery

Faith Fairchild gets an offer she can't refuse, catering a weekend birthday party for the famous theatrical producer Max Dane with a state of the art kitchen and an unlimited budget. The surprise is not the theme, heaven and hell, which was the title of Dane's last Broadway show, but the fact that Max believes that one of the invited guests plans to kill him. Will Faith pull off this catered affair without anyone being murdered?

THE BODY IN THE CASKET is reminiscent of the manor house mysteries of the past. We have a palatial estate in an elite secluded area filled with suspects. Page builds intrigue and suspense as we learn about the various guests as they receive their invitations and as they arrive and interact with each other. As characters develop and motives build so does the oncoming storm which leads to the penultimate showdown.

A secondary story revolving around Pix's daughter moving back home and the new gentleman friend of Pix's mother flush out the book.

I enjoyed the entire concept of this novel; what murder mystery fan wouldn't want to be invited to an extravagant weekend party wherein the host believes he'll be killed? The theme of heaven and hell for the party is symbolic, not only of the play, but the characters themselves and the way Faith's menu incorporates that theme is just plain fun. THE BODY IN THE CASKET is an entertaining read featuring an engaging heroine and delicious recipes.